


Bringing her Home

by acclaimedwriter



Category: Casualty (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 21:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21483220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acclaimedwriter/pseuds/acclaimedwriter
Summary: Duffy has to tell Charlie her secret but she's afraid it'll destroy him. [An alternative scene to Duffy telling Charlie about her dementia diagnosis]
Relationships: Lisa "Duffy" Duffin/Charlie Fairhead
Kudos: 7





	Bringing her Home

She’d locked herself away in his office, sat on the floor near the filing cabinet, hugging her knees. She took a deep breath as she heard the door handle been tried, followed by a sigh and a clanging of keys. The door opened wide and the light came on.  
  
“Turn it off.” She mumbled. Charlie stepped into his office, closed the door and switched off the light.  
  
“Migraine?” He asked before realising he couldn’t actually see her at his desk. “Where are you?”  
  
He found her before she could answer his question and sat down beside her. Almost instantly, Duffy moved her body closer to him, searched for his hand and entwined her fingers through his.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
She exhaled and moved her head to rest against his shoulder. How could she tell him? It would devastate him. More than it destroyed her.  
  
“I need to tell you something.”  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
He placed a kiss against the side of her head. She was silent for a minute or so. Duffy knew there was no gentle way of breaking the news, it was essentially a death sentence.  
  
“I’ve got dementia.”  
  
She could hear his breathing change as she dropped the bombshell on him. He swallowed hard, his heart feeling like it had shattered on the inside.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’ve got dementia, I’m so sorry.”  
  
Her voice began to break and Charlie wrapped his arm around her, pulling Duffy closer into his chest.  
  
“How long have you known?”

  
“A while, suspected anyway.”  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
Duffy could feel the pit of nausea at the bottom of her stomach and began to wipe the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.  
  
“I didn’t want to hurt you, I’ve done that enough lately.” She took a deep breath as she felt Charlie’s arm move from around her shoulders. She braced herself for him to leave her. She would never admit it out loud but she needed Charlie more than anything. She needed his love and support the most. She was about to whisper ‘don’t leave me’ when she saw that Charlie had simply moved positions and was knelt in front of her. He wiped the tears away from her cheek with his thumb and almost as though, he could read her mind whispered back.  
  
“I’m not going anywhere.”  
  
Duffy closed her eyes tightly and burst into tears. She didn’t have to do this alone anymore. She sobbed into Charlie’s chest as he held her, running his hand through her hair in an attempt to soothe and settle her. He didn’t ask anything until her sobs subsided and she began to sniffle quietly instead.  
  
“When did you suspect?”  
  
Charlie was sat with his back against the wall. Duffy’s head remained on his chest, her hand under his tunic where she’d began to trace patterns on his chest.  
  
“Bill.” She whispered and elaborated, “I can’t remember what happened, I still can’t remember.”  
  
He closed his eyes. He felt like a right knob telling her he couldn’t fight anymore.  
  
“You didn’t tell me because of what I said to you.” It was a statement more than a question and Duffy swallowed, nodding slightly.  
  
“You gave up on me and I don’t blame you. You’re not exactly the first man to walk away from the likes of me.”  
  
“I shouldn’t have said that.”  
  
She shrugged, “I hurt you.”  
  
He was silent for a moment before he asked; “What else made you suspect it was dementia?”  
  
“The fall I had, the lapses in concentration. They were all warning signs.”  
  
“And the doctor confirmed it?”  
  
Duffy nodded, “I went for a CT, it was clear. I did a memory test and scored 2 out of 3 which the GP said was normal. She sent me for further tests, just to reassure me but—“ she paused for a moment. As she was talking, she was still tracing patterns on Charlie’s chest with her index finger, “the scan showed an area of white matter. It’s just going to get worse.”  
  
Duffy swallowed but finding herself wanting to throw up, quickly moved from her current position and dashed to the bin. She threw up twice, Charlie gently rubbing her back in circles as he followed her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.  
  
“I’m dying Charlie..” she said quietly. Charlie closed his eyes tightly, he couldn’t bear to hear those words. He’d always wanted to die first, that way he didn’t have to live without the sunshine in his life.  
  
“Please don’t say that.”  
  
“But it’s the truth, Charlie. I’m dying.”  
  
“Not yet you’re not.”  
  
They sat back down on the floor, their backs against the wall once again. Once again there was a comfortable silence between the two of them.  
  
“I don’t want to be a burden to you.”  
  
Charlie stroked her hair and sighed sadly, “You’re not a burden.”  
  
“Maybe not now but soon.”  
  
“Remember our wedding vows?” He prompted to which she smiled. “But no sickness remember?”  
  
“Because we’re nurses.” He answered, the saying bittersweet due to the nature of Duffy’s illness. Duffy’s head remained on his chest, her index finger still tracing patterns on his chest.  
  
“What do you need or want from me?”  
  
She sighed, “I want you to take me home, hold me and tell me it’s all going to be okay. But I ruined us…”  
  
She trailed off as she moved her head and hand from Charlie’s chest and stood up. Charlie moved and placed his hand against her wrist.  
  
“You didn’t ruin us.”  
  
She sat back down and rested her head against the wall. “You told me you couldn’t fight anymore.”  
  
He rubbed the back of his neck, “I couldn’t deal with you and Bill but.. I’m struggling without you.”  
  
She smiled shyly. “I miss you too. You’re my best friend.”  
  
He found her hand again and held it tightly.  
  
“Come home.”  
  
She sighed, “because I’m dying and you want to do what’s right?”  
  
He shook his head, a small frown on his face. “I want you to come home because I love you and I miss you!”  
  
“But you wouldn’t have asked me if I hadn’t told you about the dementia, would you?”  
  
There was a small silence and Duffy sighed. His silence answered her question that he was doing this out of pity. She went to move but he stopped her.  
  
“I asked you for a coffee a few weeks ago because I wanted to clear the air. Ask you to come home. You’re my wife. I waited thirty years to marry you. I was an idiot for walking away. I’m sorry.”  
  
She bit her lower lip, “I’m sorry too.”  
  
She turned her body slightly and met Charlie’s eye. She saw the genuine look in his eye that he did want to forgive her but half of her was afraid, it was simply out of pity because she had a death sentence.  
  
He moved slightly closer to her. Meeting her eye once more, he gently traced his thumb along her lower lip before he moved forward and kissed her. He moved back slightly to gauge her reaction, noticing her eyes were closed and he kissed her again.  
  
She gasped slightly, her hand on his chest as she deepened the kiss. A couple of seconds later, she pulled away and rested her forehead against his.  
  
“Come home darling, please.”  
  
She swallowed.  
  
Was she afraid that he was simply doing this because it was his duty? And not really because he loved her and forgave her for what she did. Of course she was but for Duffy, being able to go home and do this with her soul mate, by her side, gave her the strength to continue fighting. Fiddling with the top button on his shirt, Duffy asked.  
  
“Please tell me you’re not doing this out of pity?”  
  
“Of course not!”  
  
She paused, still continuing to fiddle with his shirt button.  
  
“Then I’ll come home.” She whispered as she lent up and kissed his cheek. 


End file.
